Julio Melendez pleaded guilty to smuggling goods from the U.S. and conspiracy to export firearms. He faces a maximum of 10 years on prison; Chief U.S. District Judge William Steele scheduled a sentencing hearing for August.

A federal grand jury indicted Melendez along with a man known only as Julio. Law enforcement officers in New York arrested Melendez last year at Penn Station.

Authorities alleged that the 2 men worked together in an attempt to buy assault weapons. They said Melendez in October contacted an undercover agent posing as a weapons dealer and tried to negotiate the purchase of 40 AK-47 rifles, 5 Colt M-4 rifles, 5 M-203 40mm grenade launchers and 10 grenades, 20 Beretta 9mm pistols, 4 sets of night-vision goggles and 2 military ballistic vests.

According to court records, Melendez told the undercover agent that the weapons would be smuggled across the Rio Grande River into Mexico, where they would end up in the hands of the violent Los Zetas cartel.

It is one of a number of arms-smuggling cases that Mobile-based federal prosecutors have pursued over the past several years. 